Aspect Ratio

[admin_exported]

Now I have my ideal set up (Sky HD & a Panasonic 37PX80) I have one major gripe - aspect ratio.

The TV automatically makes all widescreen broadcasts full screen (ie no letterbox effect) this really doesnt feel or look right. It looks like the picture has been stretched vertically so people look taller and thinner. Sky Sports for example now looks odd, although I am getting used to it. Films also look a bit strange.

Is it the TV or the Sky HD box? Or am I now finally seeing things as they should be and I should just get used to it....?

String.

 

[professorhat]

Well, widescreen broadcasts will be in 16:9 format so they should fit your TV exactly i.e. with no borders. Do you mean 4:3 broadcasts are being stretched? Or with films that are 1.85:1 being stretched so there are no borders. Most TVs offer an Auto mode and then there is an Aspect button which lets you choose between several settings manually - I'd be surprised if the new Panasonic doesn't offer this as well.

 

[Anonymous]

Use the 'aspect' button on remote to set to 'auto' and this adjusts pic to incoming ratio. 🙂 JJ

 

[tvmog]

[quote user="StringerBell"]

Now I have my ideal set up (Sky HD & a Panasonic 37PX80) I have one major gripe - aspect ratio.

The TV automatically makes all widescreen broadcasts full screen (ie no letterbox effect) this really doesnt feel or look right. It looks like the picture has been stretched vertically so people look taller and thinner. Sky Sports for example now looks odd, although I am getting used to it. Films also look a bit strange.

Is it the TV or the Sky HD box? Or am I now finally seeing things as they should be and I should just get used to it....?

String.

[/quote]

I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking that there is something not quite right with the geometry of the PX80 when expanding anamorphically sqeezed 16:9 broadcasts. It feels like the image needs to stretch just a fraction more than it does. Watching the freeview widescreen broadcast of "Doctor Who" on Saturday everybody did look rather thin and tall. The effect didn't seem quite so pronounced on 16:9 framed DVD or on the letterbox DVD format but was still noticeable. But as you say it could just be a case of getting used to it. I've just had 12 years of watching a CRT 32 inch widescreen with a slightly curved screen which I always felt stretched the 16:9 aspect a little too much, so it could be the sudden contrast (here's hoping).

I've also noticed a slight bowing of vertical lines at the top and bottom of the picture. Have a look at a 4:3 broadcast with the grey panels down the side and you might see what I mean. Vertical edges of buildings and door frames etc also sometimes seen to have a slight curviture to them as well.

Only had Sky HD installed this morning so I have not had time to check whether these issues are the same on Sky. I've been watching the stunning images from a programme about the Khalahari desert and I'm not really an expert on the correct aspect ratio for a Zebra.

As more people get this television I will be very interested to know if they report similar issues.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="tvmog"]Only had Sky HD installed this morning so I have not had time to check whether these issues are the same on Sky. [/quote]

Bit off topic - did you find any noticable difference viewing non HD channels now that your Sky feed is connected via an HDMI connection as oppossed to scart?

 

[tvmog]

[quote user="Arbk"][quote user="tvmog"]Only had Sky HD installed this morning so I have not had time to check whether these issues are the same on Sky. [/quote] Bit off topic - did you find any noticable difference viewing non HD channels now that your Sky feed is connected via an HDMI connection as oppossed to scart?[/quote]

Can't really say as I only got the TV on Friday and didn't bother reconnecting the old sky box over the weekend once I discovered that I could now get freeview. Although it does appear that Freeview might just have the edge over sky when it comes to quality of non HD pictures. However, I haven't had a chance to adjust the output settings of the sky box yet.

 

[Anonymous]

[quote user="tvmog"]
[quote user="Arbk"][quote user="tvmog"]Only had Sky HD installed this morning so I have not had time to check whether these issues are the same on Sky. [/quote] Bit off topic - did you find any noticable difference viewing non HD channels now that your Sky feed is connected via an HDMI connection as oppossed to scart?[/quote]

Can't really say as I only got the TV on Friday and didn't bother reconnecting the old sky box over the weekend once I discovered that I could now get freeview. Although it does appear that Freeview might just have the edge over sky when it comes to quality of non HD pictures. However, I haven't had a chance to adjust the output settings of the sky box yet.
[/quote]

Ok tvmog thx for the reply, I was curious more than anything else, on the Sky+ this end via Scart.

 

[skr1]

As mentioned by professorhat Check aspect ratios of the sky box and tv.

On another matter dont sky engineers set up aspect ratio according to requirements when installing

sky hd?

 

[tvmog]

[quote user="StringerBell"]

Now I have my ideal set up (Sky HD & a Panasonic 37PX80) I have one major gripe - aspect ratio.

The TV automatically makes all widescreen broadcasts full screen (ie no letterbox effect) this really doesnt feel or look right. It looks like the picture has been stretched vertically so people look taller and thinner. Sky Sports for example now looks odd, although I am getting used to it. Films also look a bit strange.

Is it the TV or the Sky HD box? Or am I now finally seeing things as they should be and I should just get used to it....?

String.

[/quote]

Try turning off picture overscan. This has certainly helped to "fatten up" people on my set.

 

[Anonymous]

In response to Arbk - most (certainly not all) SD channels look much much better through the Sky HD box & HDMI cable.

For example, live cricket from NZ which wasnt shown in HD (despite being on the HD channel) and sky sports generally looks markedly better than through the standard Sky+ box. However Setanta sports looks pretty awful if you ask me, blocky and lots of colour bleeds.

We need a geek (meant in a nice way!) to confirm this, but I am assuming the Sky HD box upscales the SD picture (when the settings are manually set to 1080i) and therefore produces a crisper SD picture....or maybe my eyes are telling me what I want to see having shelled out all this money for HD since Steanta pictures are so poor....

String

 

[Anonymous]

In response to Arbk - most (certainly not all) SD channels look much much better through the Sky HD box & HDMI cable.

For example, live cricket from NZ which wasnt shown in HD (despite being on the HD channel) and sky sports generally looks markedly better than through the standard Sky+ box. However Setanta sports looks pretty awful if you ask me, blocky and lots of colour bleeds.

We need a geek (meant in a nice way!) to confirm this, but I am assuming the Sky HD box upscales the SD picture (when the settings are manually set to 1080i) and therefore produces a crisper SD picture....or maybe my eyes are telling me what I want to see having shelled out all this money for HD since Setanta pictures are so poor....

String

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the feedback String ;o)